Caught in His Web
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: Selphie decides to get a gift for Irvine, but it's not what he expects / fluff


"Selphie, you sure you want to do this?"

The girl walking next to Irvine ran ahead a few feet, "Yup! Think of it as a special tradition we'll do every year as long as we're together."

Not knowing what she was getting at as to what the special tradition was, Irvine kept walking. A simple date to Dollet was now starting to take an interesting turn. He had already asked Selphie if she had wanted to do anything, and this was something she thought up back at Balamb.

He had hoped to get her all giddy, which was easier to those who didn't know her, but this was taking it to a whole new level by coming to another city altogether for a date.

Going past the Nautilus hotel, Selphie ran on ahead to check out the store next to the place, and she jumped when she found what she was looking for. "This is it!"

Turning the corner and peering down an alley, Irvine wondered what was going on even more than ever. The only store that was down the alley was at the end, and it was a small shop called 'Tonberry Tattoos'. "You want a tattoo?"

"You bet," she said going to the door of the store, and went on in. The bell above the door rang and when Irvine followed he thought he was walking into a dungeon. It was mostly dark save for lights over a counter, and countless paints of various colors lined the shelves around a chair and many designs lined the walls, most of them intricate.

Irvine had only ever gotten one tattoo in his life, and it was a spider web tattoo on his left shoulder which he had gotten a few years before he had met Selphie. He had thought it had looked cool but beyond that it had been the only one he had been able to afford. What kind of tattoo was Selphie thinking to get? "Hey honey. You do have enough money for this, right?"

"Don't worry. The man that works here I knew back in Trabadia, he owes me a favor or two from helping him in school," Selphie said as a man walked out. He didn't look too much older than Irvine, and he looked like he was a member of a dark core band.

"Selphie! Nice to see you again. Here for your first tat?"

The girl nodded, pulling out a piece of paper from the back pocket of her short shorts and handed it to him, "This. On my back, please."

The man nodded, scratching his chin in anticipation, "You know, this would cost you an arm and a leg, but..." He gave a conniving smirk, "I do owe you a few things, so I'll overlook it this time. Just for you."

Selphie nodded and she went and sat down in the revolving chair, but then she remembered something. "Oh! Better show some skin." She winked at Irvine granting him a look before she undid the straps of her overalls and put her chest to the back rest of the chair.

Irvine hadn't taken too kindly to that, "That wasn't fair Selphie."

Selphie cracked her neck, "You see my skin all the time, don't hate on me."

"As nice as your back is I'd like a view of the front from time to time as well,"

She put a finger to her lips, hushing him as her other friend went about his business getting started. The fact that Irvine didn't even known the design was well known to him, but Selphie had kept him in the dark.

Well, he didn't know what it could be but he hoped it had something to do with him. He had gotten a couple tattoos in the past year, one for himself and one for Selphie. The one he had gotten for himself was a large spider web going over his left shoulder and a majority of the left side of his chest. The reason for it was to be poetic but he had forgotten what it was supposed to mean. The one he had gotten for Selphie was a heart on the right side of his chest with the color yellow and her initials on the inside. She had thought the idea was cute, until she had pointed out that the heart was supposed to be on the left side and Irvine felt like a total idiot after that. Selphie on the other hand had been quite fine with it. 'It's the thought that counts,' was how she put it.

After the artist got going, Selphie relaxed into the position she was in the chair. The piece of art she was engraving into her back was on her right side and the only sounds she made during the majority of the procedure was the inhales and exhales of her breathing.

Not wanting to sound impatient, Irvine asked "So how long will this take?"

The artist grunted once, and stopped, his concentration temporarily broken, "Well, given how simple the design is…a few hours or so to go."

Irvine fell back in his chair and groaned. His tattoos had taken a combined three hours to do, but he had gotten them done separately over a period of two months. This was going to be a pain to sit through.

Selphie sighed to relax as she felt the needle tickle her skin once again, "Sit back and watch Irvine, and this will be over before you know it."

He could only hope.

Over four hours later and Irvine still sat in his chair and watched the clock, occasionally his eyes went over to Selphie. She was taking a nap in the chair, the fact that she was confined to one space for a long period of time somehow makes her want to sleep. Irvine didn't blame her, he had the thought of doing so as well but he couldn't force himself to do it no matter how hard he tried. He did manage to get comfortable though.

"There!"

Irvine sat up straight, right at attention, "What?"

"Finished is what…" the artist wiped his brow of sweat with his forearm and Selphie started to stir. "Four and a half hours, Selphie. This makes us even."

Selphie stretched her arms up over her head with a big yawn, "Really? That's fair enough I suppose…" She got up and from there Irvine got a quick look at Selphie's front before she covered herself up again. That alone made the whole ordeal worth it.

The artist took his tools and left the two alone for the time being. There was a large mirror next to the chair and Selphie got a look at her new skin art. Irvine got a look as well and he was really surprised at what it was. A medium sized yellow and red butterfly on a spider web going from the entire right side of her spine and over her shoulder. Similar in design to his own web. It was there he saw a connection.

Selphie was pleased with what she saw, "Awesome!"

Irvine stood up, amazed, "That's…wow."

Looking through the mirror Selphie's eyes met Irvine's, "Glad you think so."

Just out of curiosity, Irvine asked, "What's the symbolism here?"

Selphie kept her arms over her chest, "Remove your shirt first."

He didn't even waste a second in doing so, not even thinking of what could be next. Once he finished Selphie turned and placed herself against him, and from the reflection in the mirror Irvine saw it. The designs of the two webs matched up almost perfectly, looking as if the butterfly was caught in Irvine's web. Genius.

"That's a pretty good idea, Selphie," Irvine said.

"I got caught in your web, years ago. Thought I'd put it to visuals. Kinda cool, isn't it?" She replied, moving her arms down to her sides and falling against him. She rested against his chest.

Irvine couldn't agree more as he put his hands on her lower back. "That's a great choice, Selphie. I love it."

"Great, because this is as close as we're gonna get to making out until it dries."

If his hands weren't so full Irvine would have face palmed. Still, he had a feeling he could put up with waiting a little bit longer.


End file.
